Tbilisi. On February 17, the organization "Women's Fund in Georgia" has opened the exhibition-sale of works of the Georgian women artists in the gallery "Art Avenue" titled Auto Nomos (personal law). The works created in various formats are united by a common theme – "sexual rights and experiences of women". The exhibition will last for a week.Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Kakheti. The film "Life Continues” was shown in the office of "Media Center Kakheti” in Gurjaani. The schoolchildren, interested citizens and the NGO sector representatives have attended the film screening.According to the Youth Project Coordinator of Media Center Ilia Sakvarlishvili, similar events contribute to activating the youngsters: "the organization pays huge attention to the cultural-educational events, including the screening of films.”The discussion has followed after the film. According to the Head of NGO Day Center Guliko Rostoshvili, screening of such films and the discussions should be taking place more often: "the adolescents with disabilities and other children should meet each other more frequently and at least should be watching such films together, after which they should be discussing the problems in their city in this respect. This will help them to integrate into the society.”

Kakheti. NGO "Media Center Kakheti” and the Telavi Media Cafe have organized the art evening of Soso Mikeladze "You and Me” in the Telavi Media Cafe. The evening has focused on the phenomena such as love, human crisis, social satire, humor, etc. The meeting was full of romantic and humoristic stories, poems, songs and essays.Soso Mikeladze: "Telavi is very much short of such evenings and the more of them there are the better”.

Tbilisi. On January 31, at 5 pm, the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation invites you to the exhibition of handcraft works of youngsters with disabilities."Open Gallery” will host the works of applied art, which were created as part of the project "The Role of Social Therapy in the Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities”. Project beneficiaries will participate in the exhibition. The project aims to set up the social therapy house and to employ the youngsters with disabilities.The initiative is implemented by the Rustavi-based organization "Association of Parents of Children with Neural Diseases”, with financial support of the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation. Source: osgf.ge

Kakheti.Preparations for the Telavi Festival are underway, initiated by the TRAM Foundation. Last year the organization has carried out significant preparatory works in Telavi in terms of researching the needs and development opportunities in the cultural field. The Foundation's idea is currently upheld by various organizations. The festival will be held in fall, but the preparatory works were already launched. The first large-scale meeting was attended by the representatives of CSOs, theatre, university and museum. Discussion was held over the detailed concept of the festival.The organizers hope that the festival will become a permanent event and it will set up a certain platform for the education, professional development and sharing of knowledge and experience. Source:page of the Community Development Center in the social network.

Samegrelo. As part of the project of the charity humanitarian center "Abkhazeti" - "Youth Civic Partnership Initiative", the cinema club was founded with the Public School #7 in Poti. Opening ceremony was held on January 18 and it was attended by the representatives of local authorities, media and other guests. After the presentation, the first Georgian documentary - "Akaki's Travel in Racha-Lechkhumi" was shown, following which the schoolchildren and film critics have discussed the film.The project of the humanitarian fund "Abkhazeti" is financially supported by the "Open Society – Georgia" Foundation. Source:the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. On December 14, the Civil Society Institute has organized a public meeting in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center on the "Policy of monument protection of cultural heritage in Batumi". The architects, invited experts, and representatives of local state and NGO sector have discussed the Adjarian policy of monument protection of cultural heritage at the examples of the "Dolls' Theatre", the post and the former building of newspaper "Adjara".Majority of discussion participants prefers to preserve the original appearance of the listed buildings, and therefore they find it necessary to urgently launch negotiations with the investors.

Tbilisi. The EU Delegation in Georgia has extended the deadline for submitting the works for the 3-minute films festival.Those interested in participating in the contest can submit works until 5 pm on November 30.The 3-minute films festival is a new initiative of the EU Delegation in Georgia, through which the EU offers the Georgian youngsters of 14-25 years of age to shoot through the mobile phones 3-minute films and thus reflect the results of the EU-Georgia cooperation by themselves.Interested persons can get familiar with the contest rules at the following web page www.eu3min.ge. For the full text. Source:eeas.europa.eu/delegations/georgia

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On November16, the festival planned by the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center and dedicated to the Day for Tolerance was held in the Ninotsminda Municipality. The civic clubs of the Samtskhe-Javakheti schools involved in the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program have participated in it.The festival was rather diverse, where the schools have presented the symbol of a man-tolerance, created posters on the topic of tolerance, exhibited the clothing of various ethnic representatives, and presented the culture and traditions of the specific ethnic group.

Adjara. On November 18, NGO "Borjghali” has organized a rock concert in Batumi, in the Bonn Culture House. The event was held to support the persons suffering from natural disasters – ecological migrants.This event aimed at informing the youth and broad public about the problems of eco-migrants. The rock concert was organized as part of the project "Advocating the Interests of Eco-Migrants”, funded by the "East-West Management Institute”.The concert was supported by the youth organization "Art Way” and the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Adjara Autonomous Republic.

Shida Kartli. The representatives of the Gori Youth Center have celebrated the International Day for Tolerance on November 16. They have organized three events dedicated to this day in various places. In particular, they have delivered a seminar and showed videos on the topic of tolerance in the Verkhvebi IDP settlement, followed by the discussion of examined topics.Youngsters of the Center and the schoolchildren of Public School #7 have organized the artistic evening for the children with disabilities, which propagated the idea of tolerance and equality. The third event organized by the Center’s representatives was the performance held in the Davit Chubinishvili Culture Center. NodarDumbadze’s story "Helados” was performed. These events were organized as part of the project of the United Nations Association of Georgia, supported by the US Agency for International Development.

Guria. The exhibition of children’s paintings was opened at the initiative of the Ozurgeti Civic Engagement Center on November 16. It was dedicated to the International Day for Tolerance, reflected in the title of the exhibition – "Tolerance – This Is Love”. Up to 15 schoolchildren from Ozurgeti have participated in the exhibition, presenting up to 50 works.The exhibition dedicated to the topic of tolerance will last in the Civic Engagement Center for a week.

Kvemo Kartli. The training will be held on November 18-22 in Rustavi with participation of the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives, within the framework of the project – network of the Caucasian cultural initiatives CAUCULT. Partners from Austria and Lithuania will participate in the training. Topic of the training is the "Culture in the South Caucasus States and the Community Art Development”.The project – network of the Caucasian initiatives CAUCULT represents an inter-cultural program, which promotes local cultural initiatives for strengthening the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity.Project partners in Georgia are the "Caucasian House” – the center for cultural relations and the "Academy for Peace and Development”. For full text. Source: the page of "Caucasian House" in the social network.

Tbilisi. The civil society organization "Tiflis Hamqari” addresses the Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia Guram Odisharia and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Science and Culture Ivane Kighuradze with an open letter. The letter states that in order to solve the problems in the field of cultural heritage it is crucial to declare the moratorium on the new large-scale constructions in the historical part of Tbilisi, as well as to establish with the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia the commission consisting of qualified staff, which will assess the expediency of objects or projects that attract huge public interest.The organization offers to the Ministry of Culture to start working on the amendments to the Law on Cultural Heritage based on consultations with the field professionals, as well as calls on the authorities to secure public discussions prior to the approval of large-scale projects. Further, the organization finds it equally important to correct the historic-cultural back-up plan of Tbilisi and approve it afterwards."Tiflis Hamqari” is ready to actively cooperate with respective agencies in relation to the above-described issues.The Open Letter.Source: the page of "Tiflis Hamqari" in the social network.

Adjara. On October 29, as part of the project "Re-Animation", the youth organization "Art Way" has organized a performance attended by the members of the Union for the Blind and the residents of "Savani". The performance was staged by taking into account all specificities that are required for the blind to comprehend the performance. This performance was staged in Georgia for the first time. Over the period of six months, all blind persons living in Adjara will have a possibility to attend this performance once a month. The project is implemented with the financial support of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) and USAID. The story about the performance.

Adjara. The part of artists from the Adjara Autonomous Republic held the discussion on October 26 in the Batumi Press Cafe on the "Cultural development aspects in the Adjara Autonomous Republic". The discussion aimed to study and analyze relevant issues and search for the ways of problem solution. Representatives of local CSOs, political parties and media outlets have attended the meeting. The speakers focused on the problems in the Batumi Drama Theatre, the state television and the Batumi Arts University. The problems of these organizations, as noted by the organizers of the discussion, must be urgently resolved in order to enable young artists to expose their talent.

Adjara. As part of the project "Saturnalia”, on October23 the foreign artists organized the exhibition of their works.Visitors to this exhibition could see the video documentations of performances by Aliona Treshko and Piotr Kriusha. These movies show how the author becomes a victim of traditions.Visitors to the exhibition space saw Irina Korina’s "Bugaboo”, which represented the unity of phobias in the Russian society. Presented at the exhibition was the work by two young artists – skating on the arena made of soap, the idea of which lied in the parody of the utopian human aspirations.

Tbilisi. The exhibition titled "Translation" will open in the "Open Gallery" on October 25 at 7 pm. Presented at the exhibition will be the copies of medieval miniatures on the parchment and paper, as well as the documentary on the frescos of the Davit Gareji monk cabins and the installation with natural pigments and paints. The project "Translation" is the artistic research of cultural heritage. The research was commenced in Matenadaran, the MesropMashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Erevan, continued at the next stage in Tbilisi in the National Manuscript Center. By means of exhibition and painters' chats, the project conveys a dialogue between the medieval and contemporary art/artists.A meeting with the painters will be organized on October 26 at 2 pm, who will talk about their personal artistic experience. For full text. Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The illustrated album "Gudiashvili Square” was published at the initiative of "Tiflis Hamkar”, which chronologically depicts the development of the Gudiashvili Square from the end of XIX Century until present.The album "Gudiashvili Square” was published as part of the project "Discover Your Tbilisi” with the support of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and funding from the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency (SIDA)."Tiflis Hamkar” is the union of persons caring about the city, which aims at protecting the urban-cultural heritage of Tbilisi.The album "Gudiashvili Square".Tbilisi. The illustrated album "Gudiashvili Square” was published at the initiative of "Tiflis Hamkar”, which chronologically depicts the development of the Gudiashvili Square from the end of XIX Century until present.The album "Gudiashvili Square” was published as part of the project "Discover Your Tbilisi” with the support of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and funding from the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency (SIDA)."Tiflis Hamkar” is the union of persons caring about the city, which aims at protecting the urban-cultural heritage of Tbilisi. The album "Gudiashvili Square".

Adjara. The contest screening of animated films of the leaders' school functioning with the "Young Teachers' Union" took place at the international festival of animated films ("Topuzi 2012") hosted by Batumi. 250 films made in various countries were submitted to the contest. Remarkably, all four animation videos developed by the leaders' school have successfully passed the first round. Although the animated films of the leaders' school were not among the overall winners, the contest organizers have stressed the fact that out of 9 animated videos offered by them, foreign animators have selected for the international festival in Vilnius one film only - "A Bird, Teacher and Me" (the leaders' school). The festival in Vilnius will be held on October 22-26.

Imereti. The Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center implements the project funded by the Levan Mikeladze Foundation "Youth Initiatives", as part of which the project "Young Writers" is being implemented. Main objective of the project is to identify talented youngsters and to have public get familiar with their works. As part of the project, works are being submitted until 12 November 2012 at the following e-mail: young.writter2yahoo.com

Tbilisi. The EC Delegation to Georgia invites youngsters to participate in the contest of films recorded on mobile phones on the topic "EU in my neighborhood". The contest participants must shoot a 3-minute film on a mobile phone and express in a creative way what kind of impact EU had on the concrete field selected by the contestants. This contest is a new initiative, by which the EU offers Georgian youngsters to express in their own way the results of the EU-Georgia cooperation. For full text (Geo) Source: EC Delegation to Georgia